Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0Life expectancy around Inuvik is 76.4 years, 5.1 less than for the typical Canadian town
Self-rated health is ordinary for the Northwest Territories: 43% of the region’s adults say very good or excellent, the province 43%. Measured from where Inuvik’s residents live, the nearest hospital is 1.4 km away, under the typical 3.7 km. The Health grade for Inuvik is C−, #2,376 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Inuvik
Smoking runs high
Smoking is commoner around Inuvik than in the typical Canadian town’s region, and 20% of adults smoke every day. Conditions and habits ↓
Less upbeat about their health
The survey’s age-standardised figure sits 8.5 points under the typical Canadian town’s, and 44% answered very good or excellent. Health survey ↓
A hospital close by
Few Canadian towns live as close to a hospital as Inuvik; from its centre of population the trip is 1.3 km. Getting care ↓
From Statistics Canada: the health survey and life expectancy for the health region, the deprivation index for the town; distances from the healthcare facilities database and OpenStreetMap.
Inuvik grades C− for health
Each input ranked against Canadian towns of 2,500 or more: the region’s four, the town’s distance to a hospital.
The region’s four figures and the town’s distance to a hospital are each ranked against Canadian towns of 2,500 or more, then averaged. Its place: #2,376 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
How the grade works
Health is graded as a regional score, labelled as such: very good or excellent self-rated health, chronic conditions (arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure averaged) and smoking from the Canadian Community Health Survey, each age-standardised so an older region isn’t marked down for age alone, and life expectancy at birth, all for the health region. The residents’ average distance to a hospital is the one input measured for the town itself, so towns in one region can still differ.
High blood pressure for 17% of adults in the region, diabetes for 8.1%
What the survey finds on conditions, weight and habits for the region, the province as the tick.
Conditions and weight · 2023/2024
Habits · 2023/2024
Obesity tracks the province: 44% of adults here, 44% across the Northwest Territories.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (table 13-10-0972), as published, not adjusted for age; obesity from reported height and weight.
About as many rate their health highly here as in the Northwest Territories: 44% and 44%
How adults in the health region answered the survey, not adjusted for age; the tick marks the province.
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
Neither ahead nor behind the Northwest Territories on mental health (46% to 46%), the region has 23% of adults stressed most days.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
From Inuvik, a hospital is 1.4 km away on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Inuvik’s own, not the region’s.
That is nearer than the 3.7 km of the typical Canadian town.
Hospitals and clinics: Statistics Canada, Open Database of Healthcare Facilities. Pharmacies: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Straight-line distances from each dissemination area, weighted by its 2021 population.
Life expectancy in the region: 76.4 years
Regional life expectancy in the Northwest Territories, then the town’s place on the national deprivation index.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Among 40 towns its size, Inuvik is 7th nearest a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 3,290 to 3,389 people, median 4.8 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rankin Inlet NU D | 3,336 | 0.5 km | 39% |
| 2 | Miller AB B+ | 3,294 | 0.8 km | 51% |
| 3 | Virden MB B− | 3,322 | 1.1 km | 51% |
| 5 | Bonavista NL C− | 3,293 | 1.2 km | 44% |
| 6 | Havre-Saint-Pierre QC B+ | 3,389 | 1.2 km | 61% |
| 7 | Inuvik NT C− | 3,337 | 1.4 km | 43% |
| 8 | North St. Boniface MB B+ | 3,358 | 1.4 km | 52% |
| 9 | Pictou NS C− | 3,307 | 1.5 km | 42% |
| 40 | Arviat NU D− | 3,330 | 216 km | 39% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What counts as a hospital. Facility locations come from Statistics Canada’s open database; records without coordinates sit at their postal code, and not every hospital has an emergency room.
- Regional figures. The survey figures and life expectancy are published for the health region, so every town in it shares them and only the distances are Inuvik’s own.
- Who the survey asks. The survey’s frame skips reserves and other Indigenous settlements, institutions, the Forces and two Québec regions, so their figures come from elsewhere or not at all.
- Adjusted for age. Because older people report more illness, the grade uses age-standardised shares; the charts above show the unadjusted answers.
- Distances are straight lines. Each small census area is measured as the crow flies to the nearest facility and weighted by its 2021 residents, so real trips run longer.
Questions about health in Inuvik
What is the life expectancy in Inuvik?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 79.4 for women, 73.9 for men around Inuvik (2022/2024).
How healthy is Inuvik?
More of the region’s survey and life-expectancy figures trail the typical Canadian town than beat it. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 17%.
How is Inuvik’s Health Grade worked out?
Canada’s grades haven’t been set, so Inuvik has none yet; when they are, Health will set its region and its hospital distance against the typical Canadian town.
How far is Inuvik from a hospital?
A clinic is 542 km from the average resident of Inuvik and a pharmacy 0.8 km, as the crow flies.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (13-10-0972) · Statistics Canada, life expectancy 2022/2024 (13-10-0988) · Statistics Canada, health regions 2023 (82-402-X) · Statistics Canada, Open Database of Healthcare Facilities · pharmacies © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).